Power
by Peter Smith
Summary: Sequel to "The New Team" - While the two teams of Rangers are still learning to trust each other, an old friend of Zordon's returns to his home planet, and the Rangers have to head on an interplanetary rescue mission.
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes – This is the sequel to my last story "The New Team", and the second in the series. I'd really recommend reading that one before reading this story, otherwise you're gonna be pretty lost :). Once again, please read and review – I'm a struggling fanfic, and crave feedback like oxygen.  
  
Oh, and forgive me, but I'm gonna throw in a free plug for my website here as well – The Thunder Dome, with the "Comic Book Top Tens", and "Survival Guide for the PRU". Now, enjoy! :)  
  
**Chapter One  
**  
The Circle of Hianan had seen better days, he thought, as he stepped out of the shadows and into the light. The Circle of Hianan was a huge stone platform, set a step above the ground and outlined in faded blue designs, where six tall stone columns had once stood around its edges. But now, only four remained - one had crumbled and collapsed, scattering rubble across the circle, while another had disappeared completely. Stepping up off the red gravel and onto the stone, the man began to slowly cross the circle, avoiding pieces of fallen stone and listening to see whether he'd been followed.  
  
But that wasn't likely, he thought. After all, the entire planet was a deserted, empty wasteland. Everything that had been was now dust, all the magic and wonders long gone. It was a shame, he thought, that this planet, once the ruler of a glorious empire, was now just a lump of rock, barely a shadow of its former self, floating meaninglessly through the empty void of space.  
  
He raised his hand and gently pressed it to one of the remaining columns..._ smoke and screams filled the air... the palace was burning, the city shaking... they were utterly overwhelmed... all was lost..._ He pulled his hand away and quickly stepped back, the memories mercifully fading. Of all the places in the galaxy, this was the last he'd ever wanted to see again.  
  
So why had he come back? A powerful force had drawn him - that much he knew, but why and what it was he couldn't be sure. He was in great danger, but the force leading him had been too insistent, urging him while asleep and guiding him while awake. Glancing down to the golden medallion hanging around his neck, he only hoped that the ones he counted as his friends would find him before the ones he knew as his enemies did.

* * *

On the moon, the single rocky satellite orbiting Earth, all was not well.  
  
"Goldar! Squatt!" screeched a high-pitched voice that echoed from a high stone castle and down across the landscape.  
  
"Scorpina! Baboo!" it cried again, and four strange creatures huddled together in fear in the palace's highest throne room.  
  
"You idiots!" cried Rita Repulsa, attacking Squatt and Baboo with her staff. The two were the usual subjects of Rita's outbursts, but this was beyond anything they'd suffered in the past. Thankfully they were soon given a reprieve, as Rita turned and began taking out her frustration on Scorpina and Goldar. "How could you not realise that Zordon was going to use those six extra Power Coins?"  
  
"But he only used five..." stammered Scorpina, immediately regretting it as Rita spun back towards her and struck out again.  
  
"Those five Junior Rangers ruined what was a perfect plan!" the witch cried, "and it was all your fault! I have such a head-ache..." The storm passed, giving them all a momentary chance to recover. Grasping her head in pain, Rita slumped down into her seat.  
  
Finster, resident scientist and monster-maker, appeared at the door. From past experience he knew Rita preferred him to the others, and that she seldom took out her bad moods on him. Still, he didn't like to interrupt one of her tirades, and stood trembling at the door for a few seconds before nervously announcing his presence. "Uh, my queen?"  
  
Rita looked up, her anger rising at the interruption. "Yes?" she barked. "What do you want?"  
  
He took a brave step into the throne room. "Uh, well, I've just picked up a rather strong energy signal, and I thought that..."  
  
"Does this story have a point?" Rita growled, ominously reaching for her wand.  
  
"Um, well, I thought you might be interested, uh, because it's originating from the planet Nerimos."  
  
Rita stopped in her tracks, her attitude changing in a microsecond. Indeed, it was entirely possible the Universe had backflipped and there was someone else where Rita had been a second ago. "What planet was that?" she asked sweetly.  
  
"Nerimos," Finster repeated. "The signal is so strong, it has to be Torlus's medallion. Nothing else in the galaxy has that kind of energy signature."  
  
"The great medallion?" she asked in disbelief. "The magic Torlus possesses is beyond that of even mine. If I possessed that kind of power I'd be unstoppable, and I could defeat Zordon and conquer the Earth Junior Team of Power Rangers or not. I must have that medallion. Goldar! Scorpina!" she cried, turning to her two strongest subjects. "Organise an army of putties, we're going on vacation!"

* * *

"See, for me it's been the small things," said Aaron, as he and Sarah shook out their umbrellas and left them in the stand beside the Youth Centre doors, before heading in towards the Juice Bar. "Like, I was making a sandwich the other day and I couldn't get the jar of peanut butter open. I just thought in the back of my mind, if I morphed this'd be a piece of cake."  
  
Sarah nodded. "I know what you mean," she replied, as they spotted everybody sitting up near the Juice Bar and began making their way towards the group. "I was playing netball last night, and at half-time it just kind of hit me that a Ranger could score a goal from any position on the field. Probably with their eyes shut."  
  
"Probably make the game a bit one-sided though," smiled Aaron.  
  
Everybody looked up as Aaron and Sarah approached and pulled out a couple of free chairs.  
  
"Hey guys," smiled Kimberly.  
  
I looked over to Aaron. "Still raining outside?" I asked.  
  
He nodded. "Pouring. Figures - beautiful all week, downpour Saturday morning."  
  
"It's okay though, the Seniors have been telling us some of the things that have happened around Caloundra since they became Rangers," Scott said. "Like - get this - the day Rita kidnapped the entire city, and they had to save everybody."  
  
"Wow," said Sarah, glancing around the group. "That would've been thousands of people, if not a whole lot more..."  
  
Zac nodded. "Totally. Well, at least everybody who attended."  
  
"And that was on Power Ranger day, wasn't it?" I asked, turning to Jason.  
  
"Yeah," replied Jason. "Although you probably don't remember it actually happening. A lot of people didn't."  
  
"Automatic memory loss seems a decidedly common occurrence around here," said Billy with a small smile. "It does make for interesting conversations after the fact, however..."  
  
Aaron laughed and shook his head. "I can't believe you guys were all kidnapped and don't even remember it," he said, turning to the Senior Rangers. "I was in Brisbane that day, I couldn't make it."  
  
"I wouldn't worry," Kim said, and grinned. "There's always next time."  
  
Aaron smiled. "I always miss out though," he said. "Well, I came here with my older brother for Parent Day, but..."  
  
At this, Zac stifled a laugh and Tommy rolled his eyes.  
  
Aaron glanced from one Ranger to the other, his smile fading. "Again?"  
  
At that point Ernie, the cheerful owner of the Youth Centre, rounded the corner with a tray of drinks, and everybody immediately looked around guilty and changed the subject. We'd all planned to head down the beach this morning, but hadn't counted on the beautiful weather yesterday turning grey and miserable today. So the teens had all taken us to the Youth Centre, introduced us to Ernie, and spent the morning telling us about all the things they'd done. According to them, a lot had happened here.  
  
Even after an uneventful week, the five of us were still unsure about our roles as Power Rangers, but we'd spent the last few days furiously training with the Senior Team. I guess they wanted to make sure we'd be capable of standing on our own in a fight. Jason and I had been hanging out a lot in the last week as well. He'd given me a beginner's course in about six different styles of martial arts - only the very basics, but I was picking them up quickly. I owed it to Jason, though - he was a fantastic teacher, with patience that seemed to border on the superhuman.  
  
"And you guys teleported from here for the first time too?" asked Sarah, once Ernie had left.  
  
Kimberly nodded. "Yep. Kind of cool, huh?"  
  
"We were just as perplexed about our situation as you were," said Billy.  
  
Trini and Teresa wandered back up to our table after having spent the morning going through martial arts routines. "Billy," smiled Trini, sliding into a seat beside the Blue Ranger, "you're not boring our new friends with tales of our past exploits, are you?"  
  
"No way," I replied, shaking my head. "We were enjoying listening."  
  
Trini smiled. "Well let me tell you about the time I had to fight..." but she was cut off as our communicators all suddenly chimed their six-note musical tones.  
  
I glanced to Jason. "What do we do if they go off in public?"  
  
Jason smiled. "Usually it means we get to beat something up," he replied. "C'mon." Getting up, we followed the Seniors away from the Juice Bar, down into the locker hall and into the locker room. Tommy and Zac quickly jogged around the room to make sure we were alone, while Billy shut the door behind us.  
  
"Zordon," began Jason, speaking into the thin band of metal, "everybody's here. Go ahead."  
  
"Rangers," boomed Zordon's voice. "There is a situation developing. Teleport to the Command Centre immediately."  
  
"You heard the man," nodded Zac. I looked around to the Junior Team, my stomach doing backflips - duty was calling. Following the lead of the Seniors, we all gently tapped the buttons on our communicators. Instantly, transforming into multi-coloured streaks of energy, we shot out of the building and soared west, covering thousands of kilometres of terrain in the blink of an eye. Within seconds, the Command Centre had appeared on the horizon, and before we knew it, we had been drawn inside.  
  
The eleven of us materialised on the floor in front of Zordon's plasma tube, the five Juniors lightly holding their heads. "Whoa," Teresa murmured. "I'm never going to get the hang of that."  
  
Jason smiled, then looked up to our mentor. "Zordon," he said, "what's the situation? What's happening?"  
  
"Rangers, it's good to see you all again," began Zordon. "Now, before Rita trapped me within this time-warp, I had many friends through-out the galaxy. One such friend of mine was a wizard named Torlus of the planet Nerimos. Please observe the viewing screen..." He paused while we all turned around. The screen at the back of the room quickly flashed to life, showing an old man wearing long blue robes with a golden medallion around his neck.  
  
"Torlus was a powerful mage," Zordon continued, "and in his possession is an extraordinary medallion, capable of granting people with tremendous power." On the screen, the medallion was dramatically enlarged. On one side was an odd symbol - a triangle with an eye inside it. On the other side was a picture of a dragon, long, sleek and curled around the medallion's surface. "Our sensors indicate that Torlus has returned to his home planet. He may be looking for me, or he may be in trouble. Either way, you must travel to Nerimos, find him and keep him out of harm's way. If that medallion were to fall into the wrong hands, the results could be disastrous."  
  
"Magical medallion?" repeated Aaron, turning to Scott. "Five bucks says somebody ends up with those powers before the end of this."  
  
Scott grinned, and shook Aaron's hand. "You're on."  
  
"But if Torlus is so powerful," began Kimberly, "why the defcon four? Shouldn't he be totally fine until we arrive?"  
  
"In theory, yes," replied Zordon. "The problem is that the medallion is the source of Torlus's power. Without it in his physical possession, Torlus is powerless, and keeping it on him would make stealing it that much easier, which is something we cannot risk happening. Knowing Torlus, if he senses danger, he'll have hidden the medallion somewhere. Regardless Rangers, you must find him."  
  
"We'll do our best," replied Jason.  
  
"We will teleport you there immediately," said Zordon. "As I'm sure you can imagine, time is not on our side."  
  
Jason nodded and turned to me. "You set?" he asked.  
  
I nodded, reaching for my back pocket. "Always. It's morphin'..."  
  
"Wait!" cried Alpha, freezing everybody in their tracks. "Our sensors have just detected a monster in the industrial district. Ayeyiyi!"  
  
"Talk about bad timing," said Trini.  
  
"I don't think it was," replied Zordon. "Rita must've also discovered Torlus and sent the monster as a diversion." The interdimensional sage paused, faced with a difficult choice. Getting to Torlus and keeping him from danger, or perhaps even rescuing him from it, was top priority, and would definitely require the stronger team of Rangers. But which team was stronger? The Senior Team had experience on their side, but their powers had not fully returned to them yet. The Junior Team were fully-powered, but had had little experience.  
  
He paused another second before making his decision. "Jason, you will take the Senior Team to Caloundra, battle the monster and catch up as soon as you can. We will teleport the Junior Team to Nerimos to begin the search for Torlus at once."  
  
"All right," nodded Jason, turning to me. "Good luck."  
  
"Thanks," I replied. "Don't be long," and everyone reached for their morphers. "It's morphin' time!"  
  
"Parasaurolophus!"  
  
"Rhamphorynchus!"  
  
"Brontosaurus!"  
  
"Velociraptor!"  
  
"Stegosaurus!"  
  
"Dragon Zord!"  
  
"Mastodon!"  
  
"Pterodactyl!"  
  
"Triceratops!"  
  
"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"  
  
"Tyrannosaurus!" finished Jason, and in an instant, the eleven of us were suited-up and ready to go.

* * *

Standing to her full height, Rita gazed out over the ruins of what had once been a grand royal palace, letting her mind drift across the empty landscape, through dusty courtyards and past ancient, crumbling walls, searching for any sign of life.  
  
Behind her, Goldar led a troop of putties up the small hill towards her.  
  
"The city lies deserted," Goldar said, as he approached. "There was no trace of him."  
  
Rita shook her head and turned back to her faithful warrior. "He's not here at the palace, either. But now that I think about it, the palace would be too obvious, wouldn't it?" She paused, searching her memory. "If Torlus thinks he's in danger, he'll be hiding at the circle."  
  
"Hianan?" asked Goldar quickly. "But my queen, that was sacred ground, we couldn't go near the place last time."  
  
"Time will have done more damage to the circle than I ever could've back then," Rita replied. "The magic protecting Hianan will have long since vanished, and the old fool probably doesn't even realise it." Rita paused, looking out towards the horizon and grinning a wicked smile. "He's actually made this easier for me. To the circle Goldar, now!"

* * *

"He's gotta be around here somewhere," said Tommy, as he and Jason led the team down a street with factories and empty warehouses on either side.  
  
"I hope the others will be okay," said Jason, scanning the buildings by the side of the road.  
  
"Don't worry," Trini said. "I'm sure they'll be fine."  
  
"Got him!" cried Zac, pointing down the street to where Rita's latest monster was terrorising a fleeing group of factory workers. The monster looked more robotic than organic - short and covered in an armoured silver shell, it's eyes stuck up on two shining stalks, and was armed with two jagged metal claws.  
  
"Let's take him!" said Tommy, and the Rangers raced down the street towards him. Hearing the team approach, the monster spun around, but not fast enough to avoid two rapid high kicks from Billy and Trini as they reached him. The monster stumbled backwards but quickly recovered.  
  
"So you're the Power Rangers?" he growled, his creeping voice like pin- pricks down the back of each Rangers' neck, suggesting Things hiding in dark places.  
  
"That's right," said Jason, as the others spread out on either side. "And you must be..."  
  
"I am Crabitron!" the monster replied, "your worst nightmare!"  
  
Zac shook his head. "Rita has been watching way too many late night monster flicks," he said. Crabitron roared defiantly and raised his claws, unleashing a barrage of laser blasts. The Rangers all leaped to safety, and not one of the blasts found their target, each one smashing into the parked cars and buildings behind the Rangers.  
  
Automatically going to each other's side, Jason and Tommy rolled to their feet side-by-side. Even as the smoke was clearing, the two Rangers charged towards their opponent. Tommy took to the air and knocked the monster back with a high kick, but as he landed, Crabitron spun to the side and slashed his claws across Tommy's chest. The dragon shield absorbed most of the blow, and Tommy grabbed the monster's outstretched arm and threw him aside.  
  
Jason leapt forward, smashing both fists against the monster's chest shell. The monster knocked away Jason's arms with one claw and struck him back with the other, but Jason immediately spun back and holding both claws at bay, he leaped into the air and landed a spinning high kick.  
  
The monster regained his footing in an instant and sent Jason and Tommy to the ground with a blast from his claws. But he'd forgotten about the other Rangers, and only remembered them when Kim sent a barrage of arrows scorching through the air towards him. He dodged several but couldn't avoid them all, and his chest shell erupted into fire and sparks. Following up her attack, Kim leaped into the air and came down slashing her bow across Crabitron's chest armour.  
  
Billy and Trini rushed to aid their team-mates, the Yellow Ranger slashing her daggers across the monster's chest before knocking him back with a judo chop to the neck. The monster charged forward and retaliated with a glancing blow to her stomach, before swiping at her head with an outstretched claw. Billy blocked the claw with his lance, before breaking the weapon in half into two small tridents and attacking, landing several blows before Crabitron grabbed the tridents and knocked Billy aside.  
  
Jason somersaulted back into the fray, slashing with his sword and leaving several large gashes in the monster's armour. Crabitron stumbled backwards in a shower of sparks, and Zac leaped into the air towards the monster, bringing his Power Axe right down across the monster's chest and leaving a huge split in his armour, before spinning the weapon around and aiming for the crack in the monster's shell. Pausing for just a second, he pulled the trigger, and the force of the blow sent the monster hurtling backwards through the air.  
  
"Great job Zac," nodded Jason.  
  
"Yeah, good move," said Kim.  
  
He bowed with a smile. "Why thank you," he said, as Crabitron slowly got back to his feet. "Some monsters just don't get the idea, do they?"  
  
Jason nodded. "We don't have time for this. We need the megablaster, now!"  
  
Zac's Power Axe and Kim's Power Bow instantly fused together in a flash of light. Trini's Power Daggers spun around and attached themselves to the underside of the bow, while Billy's two tridents did the same. Leaping into the air, Jason placed his sword atop the axe, and the weapon was complete. Landing in front of the other Rangers, he aimed the megablaster squarely at the advancing Crabitron.  
  
"Sayonara pal," he said, and pulled the trigger. A huge energy blast exploded from the megablaster, smashing into Crabitron like a burst of thunder and instantly reducing him to a pile of charcoal in a huge explosion that lit up the area and echoed down the street.  
  
"Well," said Billy, "that wasn't a terribly effective diversion."  
  
"But it did keep us busy," replied Jason, as the megablaster broke into its component parts and disappeared. "C'mon, we'd better get back to the Command Centre, and go find Torlus and the others."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**  
  
The five of us raced through the empty black reaches of space, passing stars and asteroids and great holes in reality even gravity couldn't escape, travelling inconceivable distances in the blink of an eye and leaving light dawdling behind us. We were teleporting for considerably longer than any of our previous trips, due to the simple fact that our destination was so far away, and after several long minutes, we finally felt solid ground beneath our feet, and the world took shape around us.  
  
"Everyone okay?" I asked, glancing back.  
  
"We're all fine," replied Teresa.  
  
"Yeah," said Scott, "but where are we?"  
  
We'd landed on a lifeless, desolate mountain plateau. All around us were red and brown rocks and boulders, and the gravel that crunched beneath our feet was the same colour. The landscape was devoid of plants and animals, and there wasn't another living thing in sight. On all sides, the plateau led down to a countryside filled with canyons, cliffs and bluffs. It was much the same as the hill we now stood on - red, empty, and silent. Not to mention, slightly creepy.  
  
"Welcome to Nerimos," I said, listening to my voice echo down across the landscape. "Nice place to visit..."  
  
"But you wouldn't want to live here," finished Teresa. "Come to think of it, I don't think anything is living here. Or ever was."  
  
"It's certainly not an ideal location for the next Club Med," added Aaron.  
  
I turned back to Scott. "Still got the gizmo Alpha gave us?" I asked.  
  
The Blue Ranger nodded. "Right here. It should come online any second, okay, there we go. And Torlus is somewhere..." and he paused, spinning around on the spot, "...that way," he finished triumphantly, pointing along a ridge towards the...well, I'd immediately thought east, but I'm not sure that really applied any more. The small yellow sun hanging above the horizon had either just risen or was about to set, and either way, Scott was pointing in the sun's direction.  
  
"All right, weapons out," I said. "No telling what we'll run into here. Keep your eyes open, and let's go." With that, we began our trek down the plateau, across a wide open valley, and back up along the ridge. Scott, Teresa and I took the lead, navigating our path from the computer Alpha had given us, while Aaron and Sarah followed behind us.  
  
As the team walked, Aaron turned to Sarah beside him, and found the Purple Ranger staring up into the blue-grey sky. Stepping closer, he tapped Sarah on the shoulder.  
  
"You okay?" he asked.  
  
"Just thinking," Sarah replied. "It's not every day you leave the entire planet behind, somewhere millions of miles away up there."  
  
"It's definitely one for the books, that's for sure."  
  
Sarah turned to him. "But it's not the fact that we're standing on another planet, you know?" she said. "It's more the fact that five minutes ago, we were just sitting in the Youth Centre on a rainy Saturday morning. And now we're here."  
  
Aaron nodded. "The small things," he said.  
  
"Yeah," Sarah replied with a smile. "The small things. All this for a single medallion, too. Hope we find it."  
  
"Me too. I've got five bucks on it." Sarah stopped and turned to the Aqua Ranger. Aaron blushed and looked away. "Uh, nothing. C'mon, they're leaving us behind," and the two jogged forward to catch up with the rest of us.  
  
We travelled quickly but carefully over the red terrain, keeping an eye out for anything that looked threatening or unusual. Eventually though, we were just keeping our eyes out for anything at all. The countryside was totally empty - we could've been making our way across the Sahara Desert, but without any sand dunes and with everything red. Every so often we passed crumbling stone ruins that gave the hint of an ancient civilisation long since destroyed, but they all lay empty and abandoned.  
  
Eventually the ridge ended in a maze of deep canyons and steep hills. We hadn't been walking for long, it felt like only about an hour, but we'd covered a lot of ground. The sun slowly climbed higher as we travelled, so it had indeed been morning when we first arrived.  
  
"Now which way?" I asked Scott. He and Sarah both glanced over the constantly-beeping device.  
  
"Uh," started Scott, glancing down to the navigator and then back up to me. "That way," he said, pointing up towards a small dusty hill in the distance. "Should be just over that hill, I think."  
  
"Not far at all," nodded Sarah.  
  
Suddenly, gazing down over the terrain, Teresa froze. "Everyone get down," she said sharply.  
  
We all immediately obeyed, dropping our blasters and falling flat to the dirt.  
  
I turned to the White Ranger. "Teresa, what did you see?"  
  
"That," she replied, pointing down to a hill far in the distance. We all saw what she had spotted - about fifty or so of Rita's putties, ambling up out of a valley in a loose procession. Leading them was a human-shaped figure, a woman, dressed in black, gold and red armour and carrying a long curving sword. After a few tense minutes, the entire troop crossed the plateau and disappeared down into another canyon, and we lost sight of them.  
  
"That must've been Scorpina," said Sarah. "Wow, the picture back in the Command Centre didn't do her justice."  
  
"I hope they didn't see us," said Scott.  
  
I shook my head. "I doubt it. If they did, wouldn't they have attacked?"  
  
"Do you think Rita's already found Torlus?" asked Aaron, turning to me.  
  
I shook my head. "I don't know," I said. "If Torlus is as powerful as Zordon says, Rita probably would've led them herself. And if she isn't with them, I don't know where else she could be."  
  
"I just hope we're not too late," said Teresa. "C'mon guys, we'd better keep moving."

* * *

With Rita leading the charge, the army of countless hundreds of putties had swarmed down over the red hills towards the wizard, sweeping across the circle like angry bees, surrounding Torlus on every side and immediately cutting off any path of escape. But as the putties began securing the wizard to one of the stone columns, Rita saw that the medallion, the source of Torlus's power, was not with him. Indeed, if it had been, the day would've turned out to be much more interesting...  
  
The witch was just about to begin interrogating the mage when Scorpina arrived, leading her regiment of putties across the circle to where Goldar and Rita were standing.  
  
"We searched the city," she said. "The medallion wasn't there. Also, they're here. I saw them while leading the putties here."  
  
Rita turned away and looked out over the dozens of grey warriors around her. For a moment, Scorpina expected to be attacked again, so she raised her arms to defend himself. But Rita's reply surprised her.  
  
"Excellent," she smiled. "Just one team, like I told you?"  
  
Scorpina nodded. "Yes my queen. Just the Junior Team."  
  
Rita's face lit up. "Perfect," she said. "I knew that one team would remain on Earth to battle my Crabitron. And Zordon sent the five Junior Rangers alone. Now, we get the chance to defeat them we didn't have last time." She raised her wand high above her. "Gluk!" she cried, her wand glowing with power, "I command you here now!"  
  
In a flash of light, a puddle of mud flowed smoothly across the ground towards her, soon rising and molding itself into the mud creature that it was. The monster's body was unrecognisable, covered by a healthy amount of brown slime, and its head was only barely visible, two glowing red eyes peering out of the mud over jaws that were lined with jagged razor-sharp teeth.  
  
"Gluk," she began, "the Junior Team of Power Rangers is here on Nerimos. They are heading in this direction - I want you to bring me their heads, attached to the rest of their bodies or not. Understand?"  
  
Gluk nodded, although it was difficult to see through the mud, before turning and slithering away from the stone circle, a trail of slime marking the path he took.  
  
Rita looked back to Goldar, noticing he was staring at her.  
  
"Gluk?" he repeated slowly.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked. "We're in a hurry, I don't have the time to think up a fancy name for every monster I send off."  
  
She turned away from her two generals and walked back to where Torlus stood under guard.  
  
"Torlus," she began, and the mage turned to her with a look of calm indifference, "my generals tell me the nearby settlement they searched was not only deserted, but also empty of gold medallions. I'm running out of patience old man. Tell me where the medallion is and it'll save us both a lot of pain."  
  
Torlus shook his head with an unmistakable air of sad amusement. "So blinded by your own magnificence," he said softly, "you cannot conceive that there are some who will not bend to the will of you and your kind."  
  
Rita sneered. "You should never have returned to this part of the galaxy, old man. Didn't you think we'd find you the second you stepped foot on this dead rock? I can't help but wonder what prompted you to risk so much?"  
  
"There are forces at work shaping this Universe you couldn't hope to comprehend even if you knew of their existence," Torlus replied. Pausing, he smiled slightly. "And I doubt even the medallion could help you there."  
  
"You're funny," Rita grunted. "I'll kill you."

* * *

The six Senior Rangers materialised on Nerimos in a blinding flash of light, touching down in a wide, empty valley between two red peaks. There was a brief moment of silence, broken only by the beep of the navigator Billy was holding, as everybody took in their surroundings.  
  
"Billy," began Jason, "have we been on this planet before?"  
  
"Negative."  
  
"Hmm." The Red Ranger shook his head. "It just looks familiar."  
  
Zac smiled. "Spot the old guys," he said. "We've been doing this for so long we're getting our planets confused."  
  
Jason smiled, and turned to Billy. "So where are the Junior Team? Have you found them yet?"  
  
"Probably off somewhere getting themselves killed, no doubt," said Tommy, glancing around the terrain.  
  
Everybody looked at the Green Ranger.  
  
"Way to show faith in the newbies, Tommy," said Zac.  
  
Tommy shrugged. "I'm sorry," he said. "I know they're good, but I'm not sure I want to go into battle beside five eleven-year-olds who've been in barely one fight."  
  
"I guess that's true," said Trini, "but Zordon wouldn't have okayed them if he thought they couldn't do it. It's not like we couldn't use their help, after all."  
  
"And it isn't like we were a franchise anyway," added Zac. "Even if we were, the club's still pretty exclusive. And as for the rest, well, we'll just have to train them up. We learnt, didn't we? No big deal."  
  
Kim nodded, placing a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "Have some faith in them, you might be totally surprised."  
  
"I don't mean to interrupt," said Billy suddenly, looking up from his navigator and around the group, "but I've successfully located the Junior Team, and I think you should take a look at this..."

* * *

"Straight over these hills," said Scott, indicating the highest in a row of dusty slopes in the distance. "It's where the signal is coming from. That's where he'll be."  
  
"You sure?" Aaron asked.  
  
Scott nodded. "Positive. Well, sort of."  
  
"Good enough for me," I said.  
  
"But let's check it out first," said Teresa, glancing around the group. "No cavalry charge until we know what we're up against."  
  
I nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Let's go."  
  
But as we began to walk forward, Sarah tapped my arm. "Hold on a second," she said. "What's that down there?"  
  
Down behind us, in the valley we'd just walked through, about six short creatures had surrounded a taller figure, hissing and grunting and steadily closing in as the figure tried to shoo them away. From a distance, the person appeared to be an old man, dressed in black robes and carrying a staff he was trying to defend himself with. I'm not sure what the creatures were - they were all pale yellow, some of the larger ones with orange and brown stripes. The best description I've got is they were moles the size of greyhounds, with sharp claws and mean sets of teeth.  
  
"We have to go help," said Teresa. "It'll only take a few seconds, and we can't leave him."  
  
"You're right," I nodded, gasping as one of the creatures leaped into the air and knocked the man to the ground before bouncing away.  
  
"Part of the hero rap," added Aaron, as we began to jog back down the hill. "Helping little old ladies cross the street and feeding stray pets. Except for the fact that he's a little old _man_ being _attacked_ by stray pets."  
  
"Do we even know how to fight those things off?" asked Sarah.  
  
I reached down for my blaster. "I'm thinking we probably don't have to," I replied. "We can scare them away just fine..."

* * *

He scrambled back to his feet as the creatures growled and hissed around him. One leaped towards him, but while still in mid-air, he swung his staff towards it as hard as he could - an audible crack echoed through the valley and the beast flew backwards. The others froze for a second, and then attacked all at once. He struck two away and kicked another back, but the beasts rolled to their feet almost instantly.  
  
"Fire!" came a voice, and five brightly-coloured laser beams smashed into the ground around him, sending up a shower of sparks and debris. None of the blasts actually hit any of the creatures, but the animals immediately froze on the spot and turned to see what had fired at them.  
  
"Aim," I said, as the five of us stood in a line and balanced our blasters, "fire!" Again, nobody hit anything but the ground, but several blasts grazed the creatures, and the beasts whimpered and shrunk back.  
  
"Aim, fire!" I shouted for the third time. This time, a blast actually hit one of the creatures' paws. It cried out in pain, and as one, the animals turned and fled the scene, whimpering and howling as they ran and soon disappearing over a ridge in the distance.  
  
"Good work guys," I said.  
  
"C'mon, he might need our help," said Teresa. We jogged down the slope towards him as he climbed to his feet, and Sarah picked up his staff and gave it back to him.  
  
Dusting himself off, he turned to me and spoke. "Thank you," he said, in a soft and kindly voice. "I think I owe you my life."  
  
"Don't mention it. But why were those things attacking you?" I asked. "And what were you doing out here in the middle of nowhere anyway?"  
  
"They attack anyone too foolish to avoid their burrows," he replied. "And I was visiting my grandchildren in a neighbouring village."  
  
"Village?" asked Aaron, looking around the barren landscape.  
  
The man nodded. "Yes. They aren't visible, of course. The times have forced the people of the Ashkari plains to build underground, which protects us from the elements and supplies us with groundwater. And if you don't mind me asking," he continued, "what are you all doing out here?"  
  
"We're looking for a man named Torlus," replied Sarah. "We think he might be in trouble."  
  
"I thought so," replied the man. "Why else would you be on Nerimos, near the circle no less, if you weren't looking for him? I happen to know where Torlus resides, actually. Please, let me repay you and show you the way."  
  
"Thanks," Teresa replied, "but that's okay, we know where we're going."  
  
"Are you sure? You wouldn't want to get lost."  
  
"It's kind of you, but we're fine, thank you," I replied. With that, we turned and began walking back up the hill, but before we'd gone five paces, the man was suddenly in front of us, almost literally materialising out of thin air.  
  
"You don't want to go that way," he said, his voice low.  
  
I nodded. "Yeah, look dude, go back and tell Rita the next time she sends a monster who likes giving directions, make him into a giant atlas or phone book or something."  
  
The man grinned, his eyes growing darker. "Damn. It's my personality, isn't it? I could never get the hang of playing human..." and with that, his features began changing. Mud appeared from nowhere and began enveloping his clothes and body, and a thick layer of slime soon washed over his hair and beard. At the same time, his staff began melting down into his hand, and vanished soon after. Apart from two glowing red eyes and a mouth of wickedly sharp teeth, the monster now facing us looked like nothing more than an evil puddle of slime.  
  
We immediately raised our fists into defensive stances. "Let me say ugh," said Scott. "Who are you?"  
  
The monster took a step towards us. "Gluk's the name," he rumbled, "and slime happens to be my game."  
  
"That is so old," Teresa replied.  
  
But Gluk ignored her, and hesitating a second longer, raced towards us. It was amazing that something so bulky and slimy could move so fast - he reached us before we had a chance to defend ourselves, and immediately sent me stumbling with a slimy blow to the chest before spinning around, shooting blasts of mud out of his outstretched hands and throwing Teresa and Scott backwards in a shower of sparks. But when Gluk lunged for the Purple Ranger, Sarah nimbly leaped to safety, and while the monster was distracted, Aaron jumped forward with a high kick - his boot met Gluk's face, and although it was lost in a glob of slime, it hit something solid and knocked Gluk back.  
  
"Great move," I said, as we regrouped.  
  
"Yuck," he replied, shaking his foot. "I'll be cleaning my boot off for weeks."  
  
Gluk soon recovered. It wasn't that he climbed or rolled to his feet, but merely that the bulk of his mass seemed to flow upwards and restored his shape. "Well played, but let's even the odds, shall we?" And he raised his arms. "Mud monsters, arise!"  
  
From out of the ground suddenly rose about twelve more mud monsters, all resembling secondary versions of Gluk. Each one was shaped the same as their master, with globs of brown slime all over their bodies and glowing red eyes, but they were shorter and lacked some of his features.  
  
"This was not in the job description," said Sarah.  
  
"We can take these guys," I said, and with that, we all leapt at our attackers. Teresa dived over a mud-blast from the closest monster before rolling to her feet and pummeling his stomach with her fists. But with each hit, her fist was lost in globs of slime and mud. Dodging back around a wide swipe, she downed her opponent with a judo chop to his slimy neck, but not before her hands had become totally covered in slime.  
  
"Yuck," she groaned, then immediately leaped to safety as two more monsters lurched towards her.  
  
A few metres away, Aaron was dodging back and forth as two of the creatures attacked him simultaneously, swiping at the Aqua Ranger and showering him with mud blasts. Aaron stepped around a chest-high lunge, blocked a high swipe then backflipped over another mud blast. But as he landed, two stones on the ground beside him gave him an idea, and scooping them up, he launched them at the two monsters' heads - instead of bouncing off, the rocks stuck in place, held by the brown mud. With both opponents briefly blinded, Aaron raced forward, downed one with a solid blow to the gut before taking the other to the ground with a spinning roundhouse kick.  
  
Scott was having a much harder time fighting his two opponents. Every kick and punch was avoided, while he had to continually dodge blasts of mud to even get close. As the monsters launched simultaneous high punches, Scott somersaulted back and up onto a boulder, then dived over the two monsters and down behind them. Grabbing hold of one with either hand, he smashed them against each other, hoping they'd knock each other out. But the monster on the left simply splattered, covering him in globs of slime, while the parts that didn't splatter were absorbed into the second, who now stood taller and growled ferociously.  
  
"Not good," he said, as the monster attacked again.  
  
Seeing that his monsters were taking care of the other four Rangers, Gluk charged towards me and sent me crashing with a mud blast. I instantly rolled back to my feet, and slashed my arms across Gluk's neck, removing large chunks of mud but nothing else.  
  
"That's not very nice," he growled, slime drooling down his chin. He raised his right arm, and thinking he meant to attack, I somersaulted back quickly out of range. But the slimy arm began to mold itself into a long, thin blade, and before long, Gluk had a custom-made sword where his right hand should've been. Advancing towards me, he slashed the blade through the air.  
  
"Power Sword!" I cried, as Gluk slashed his blade-arm down towards me. The weapon materialised in a flash of orange light, and I raised the sword and blocked Gluk's blade with a loud clang. He stepped back and swung low - I just managed to bat the blade away, but Gluk instantly recovered and went on the offensive, slashing again and again and forcing me back as I desperately tried to fend off the onslaught. Finally, as I blocked his blade he launched a mud-blast towards me with his free hand. It smashed into my helmet, blocking my visor - I quickly cleared the mud away but it was too late, a sudden blow to my shoulder forcing me to let go of the sword, and Gluk watched with a grin as the weapon fell to the ground.  
  
He slashed again, slicing across my suit, and the blow threw me backwards into the side of a boulder. As I slumped to the ground, Gluk moved in for the kill. My mind was screaming at my body to move, to do something, anything, but still stunned from the attack, it wouldn't follow the command.  
  
"It's been fun," the monster growled, and he and brought his blade-arm straight down towards me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**  
  
Suddenly, a silver blade flashed above me, blocking Gluk's sword in a shower of sparks and batting it away.  
  
"Get away from him," growled Jason, his voice low and dangerous. Gluk froze, staring in shock at the Red Ranger, and Jason stepped forward and rammed his elbow into the monster's face. Despite the fact it was immediately lost in slime, Gluk stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. Jason offered me his hand - I took it and got to my feet, picking up my sword along the way.  
  
"Are you okay?" Jason asked quickly.  
  
Breathing heavily, I turned to him. "Yeah," I said in a high-pitched voice. "Yeah, I'm good. Should we...uh...?"  
  
I was about to ask whether we should go help the other Rangers, but the question faded from my mind. Even as I watched, the cavalry was arriving, and they certainly didn't need any help from us. Zac was slicing through mud monsters like they weren't even there with his Power Axe, while Billy was fighting with his lance to help Scott keep them at bay. But Kimberly was most effective in battling the creatures. Armed with her bow, she shot arrow after arrow at a furious rate - one shot straight through two of the monsters, causing them both to explode in showers of slime, while a second arrow pinned another monster to a boulder behind him, and he exploded a second later as well.  
  
Gluk had not expected help to arrive, and found himself at a considerable disadvantage. "Retreat!" he cried, slithering to his feet and starting to run. "Retreat!" Within seconds, the eleven of us were left alone as the mud monsters turned and fled, soon leaving the area completely. 

* * *

Once Gluk and his remaining mud monsters had all escaped back up the hill, we all took a moment to catch our breath and recount everything that had happened. Jason told us how they'd defeated the monster, returned to Zordon and were immediately teleported to Nerimos. Once here, they'd used a second tracking device to quickly catch up to the five of us. We then told them everything we'd seen, from when we arrived to being attacked by Gluk. It was clear that Rita was much closer to Torlus, if she hadn't found him already. Away from home, her magic would've been fairly weak, and to actually use her powers meant she desperately needed a monster to keep us busy.  
  
"I guess that means we don't have much time," said Kim.  
  
"Well, at least Torlus isn't far away," said Sarah. "Our last reading put him right over that line of hills."  
  
"Then we've got our work cut out for us," said Trini.  
  
Scott nodded. "But thanks you guys, for showing up right when you did," he said, looking around the group. "I don't know how long we could've held them off."  
  
"Don't mention it," said Kim with a smile.  
  
"Yeah, it's what we're here for," added Tommy, and at his tone both Zac and Jason shot him a look.  
  
"But why couldn't Zordon have just teleported us straight to Torlus?" asked Aaron. "Wouldn't that have saved us a lot of time?"  
  
Billy shook his head. "Planetary teleportation doesn't work like that," he said. "Because the destination is so far away, it's difficult to fix exact landing co-ordinates before our arrival, unlike simple teleportation between the city and the Command Centre."  
  
"As close as possible is the best we can do," nodded Trini.  
  
"Wait," began Teresa, "you guys have been to other planets before?"  
  
"Not many," said Zac. "Maybe, like, two or three."  
  
I looked around the group and up to Jason. Now that the Seniors were here, I wasn't quite sure what to say. But Jason caught my look and nodded. "C'mon guys, we gotta get moving," he said, and everybody stood up, turned and began climbing to the top of the hill. But I called Jason back and the others went on without us.  
  
"Look," I began, "I, uh, I forgot to say thank you."  
  
He smiled. "It's okay," he replied, as we began following the other Rangers from a distance. "I'll always have your back."  
  
I nodded. "It's strange though. All I really had to do last time was hold the thing, and I kicked Monitar's butt. I don't know what went wrong."  
  
Jason turned to me. "I do," he said. "You were relying on it, relying on the skills and the power that's automatic to a Ranger."  
  
"I was?"  
  
Jason nodded. "Don't worry, I did the exact same thing in my first couple of fights. Automatic skills are nice, but if you hit somebody who's used to fighting that way, you're in trouble."  
  
"So how do I get around it?" I said. "How do I get better?"  
  
"Train up," he replied with a shrug. "You can only rely on your in-built skills so much, and if you're gonna be a good Ranger, it has to start with you, and not the suit." He paused, and smiled beneath his visor. "And you might want to regulate your breathing, too."  
  
I laughed, and looked up to him. "Thanks," I said. "Again. Are there any more lessons I need to know about?"  
  
"Thousands," he smiled. "We'll get there eventually..." but suddenly, Zac appeared in front of us.  
  
"I hate to bust this heart-to-heart," he said with a grin, "but are you two coming?"  
  
Jason nodded. "Right behind you," and we followed Zac towards where the other Rangers were crouching at the top of the slope. But as we reached them, Billy motioned for us to drop to the ground, and as I fell to my stomach behind a large boulder, I saw why.  
  
Beneath the hill lay the Circle of Hianan, as Zordon had called it, a stone circle built out of reddish rock. The hill we were on dropped quite steeply down to the circle, while directly across from us was another steep hill. To our left and the front of the circle, a valley ran between the two hills leading out to a wide plain, with what looked like a ruined city in the distance. Opposite to the plain, however, the ground was replaced by empty air - the circle ended at a vertical cliff that dropped thousands of feet to the ground far below.  
  
Strange circular designs covered the floor of the circle, and in one section was a larger version of the triangle/third eye symbol we'd seen back in the Command Centre. Four tall stone columns stood around the edge of the circle, and they all looked in danger of collapsing at any time. As it was, debris lay scattered from one side of the platform to the other. And a man, Torlus himself I assumed, stood tied to one of the columns. Around him on all sides was an ocean of putties, hundreds of them, and I could make out the golden form of who I assumed was Goldar nearby. Rita was there as well, standing before Torlus, and Zordon looked to have been right - the medallion was nowhere in sight.  
  
"Whoa," breathed Scott. "What do we do now?"  
  
"Yeah," said Zac. "We can't fight our way through that many putties. There must be more than a hundred down there."  
  
"Including Goldar, and the rest of Gluk's mud monsters," added Aaron.  
  
"Well," said Jason, "we could..."  
  
"We need a diversion," I said quickly, interrupting him. "That way, we could sneak down there, rescue Torlus and get the heck out of there before they realise we've even been there at all." I turned to the others but saw Jason staring at me. "Oh, sorry. That was your part, I guess?"  
  
"Are you kidding? I'm impressed."  
  
Billy nodded. "A sound strategy. Indeed, diverting their attention may be the only way of extricating Torlus, short of fighting the entire army. Perhaps we could summon the zords? Jason?"  
  
Billy looked over to Jason, but the Red Ranger was staring across the group. Hearing his name, Jason shook his head and looked up quickly. "Sorry."  
  
"What were you looking at?" asked Zac.  
  
Jason glanced back to where I lay peering down the hill. "Myself four years ago," he said softly, then raised his voice. "You guys are right, a diversion is our best bet. I don't think we should summon the zords though, that might scare Rita too much."  
  
Trini nodded. "We can't panic Rita with Torlus caught right in the middle."  
  
"Exactly," Jason replied, then glanced around the group. "Although, I think I do have an idea, and while it's not foolproof, in terms of being crazy, I think we're gold..."

* * *

"You idiot!" cried Rita, smashing Gluk across the back of his slimy head with her wand. "There were thirteen of you and five of them! How could you lose?"  
  
"We didn't count on the Senior Team showing up so soon," grunted Gluk. "Your Crabitron was obviously too weak to keep them occupied very long..."  
  
At that, pure fury crossed Rita's face, and she raised her staff again. Realising he'd just crossed the line with 'Danger' written on it in bright flashing letters, Gluk stepped back quickly and slithered away. Shaking her head, Rita crossed the stone circle back towards Goldar.  
  
"This is getting nowhere," she said. "Have you found it yet?"  
  
Goldar shook his head. "No my queen."  
  
"Damn," Rita swore. "He must have hidden the thing somewhere. The Rangers will be here any second now."  
  
Goldar glanced up and almost dropped his sword. "Sooner than you think," he said, pointing towards the hill opposite the column where Torlus had been restrained. Turning to see what he meant, Rita saw six Power Rangers climbing down the hill in plain view, three from either team - green, black, yellow, white, light blue and purple. Approaching the circle, the six Rangers stopped in a line, and the army of putties, who for the rest of their existence would associate the sudden appearance of coloured spandex with pain and injury, all immediately began to watch them, waiting for the slightest sign of danger.  
  
"Ah, Power Rangers," began Rita, "how wonderful it is to see you all again. And Tommy, come to turn on your friends again?"  
  
Behind his visor, Tommy gritted his teeth but ignored the taunt. "Rita, word has it that you're being mean to kindly old men."  
  
"He has something I want."  
  
"Well, normally we ask nicely and say please," said Sarah.  
  
Rita ignored her. "Why so few? I could've sworn there were more of you."  
  
"Your mud monsters sent a few of us home early," said Zac smoothly.  
  
Rita didn't believe for a second, but it never occurred to her how right she actually was. Even as Zac spoke, Aaron, Jason, Billy, Kim and I were slowly climbing down the hill facing the other six Rangers, behind Rita and her army of troops. The distraction was working perfectly - every single putty was keenly staring at the six other Rangers and ignoring what was going on behind them. We moved swiftly but carefully, careful not to even breathe too loudly. Once at the bottom of the hill and now in plain sight, Jason signalled us to Torlus with a hand movement, and we crept towards him. Two putties were standing guard, one on either side, but Kim and Billy grabbed them and silently took them to the ground.  
  
As Torlus watched in amazement, Jason and I used our swords to slice through his ropes. He glanced from Jason and I to the others, his eyes lingering briefly over our morphers and the white diamond designs on our chests. I glanced up to check on him, and the wizard smiled quickly and nodded, realising who we were and who'd sent us, and I returned to the ropes at his side.  
  
Finally, Jason sliced through the last of the restraints. Still in absolute silence, oblivious to the conversation between Rita and the others, we turned around and led Torlus back towards the hill, but before we'd even had a chance to get the mage to safety, a golden-armoured figure stepped before us, blocking our path. It was Scorpina.  
  
"Well," she said, an expression of evil glee crossing her face, "look what we have here. Rita?" And with that, Rita turned towards us, and so too did half her army. Our cover was blown.  
  
Damn.  
  
Rita's eyes flashed with fury. "Nice diversion. Really. Putties, KILL THEM!"  
  
The army of putties sprang into action, immediately leaping towards everybody standing around the outside of the circle. For a brief second, I was standing under a malevolent grey tidal wave of leering grey faces that was rapidly sweeping towards us.  
  
"Torlus," said Jason quickly, as dozens of putties sprang towards us and Aaron, Billy and Kimberly leaped to intercept them. "We're taking you to Zordon, but where did you hide the medallion?"  
  
"It's over there," he said, pointing to one of the stone columns near the cliff edge. "I was able to hide it in a gap under the column before I was captured."  
  
"Thanks," nodded Jason. "We'll take it from here." And raising our swords, Jason and I joined the others and charged into battle.  
  
The Rangers acting as the diversion had indeed attracted the attention of most of the putties and consequently found themselves under attack first. But instead of hanging back, the six charged forward across the red earth to meet the mass of grey warriors and engage them on their own terms.  
  
The sheer number of adversaries immediately forced Teresa and Tommy back-to- back, but even as they were surrounded, the two were already fighting back. Tommy knocked numerous putties to the ground with two roundhouse kicks, and the ones that escaped were slammed backwards with powerful uppercuts. Another wave swept forward to replace their fallen comrades - Tommy blocked a high punch, batted away a low kick and took that opponent down with a heel to the jaw, before a high jump-kick flattened several more. He spun to the side as another fell towards him - only to gape as Teresa smashed the putty out of the air with a high punch, before spinning to the side and dropping another with a high roundhouse kick. The Green Ranger smiled for a second, shook his head and turned back to the putties facing him, while behind him, Teresa continued to frantically kick and chop into submission any enemy who crossed her path.  
  
Behind them, Zac was plowing through the ranks of putties, knocking adversaries aside with every swipe of his axe and clearing a wide path with energy blasts at every opportunity. Trini was fighting furiously beside him, her Power Daggers flashing through the air like solid lightning, landing blow after blow on her adversaries and leaving a trail of broken and defeated opponents behind her.  
  
Jason and I were slowly working our way over to the column Torlus had pointed out to us, seemingly facing Gluk and his mud monsters more than any of the other Rangers. Beside me, Jason was nothing more than a blur of crimson, slashing his sword from left to right and moving forward with every step, mowing down mud monsters and putties like grass. He somersaulted over a mud blast, swinging his sword above his head and decapitating a monster on either side as he landed. He rolled forward and slashed his sword again - it carved through two of the monsters like a laser beam through butter - before wiping out an entire line of putties with a spinning barrel kick.  
  
I followed his lead, watching him for a brief second before charging forward. My style was nothing short of hack and slash, but it was effective nonetheless. I reduced one monster to a puddle of mud with a single horizontal slash, before turning in one motion and bringing my blade right down a second monster's body, slicing him in half. Two putties leapt at me - I dodged around one and smashed the hilt into the second's stomach, causing him to double-over briefly. I leaped up and jumped off his back, launching one foot at an approaching mud monster and the other at another putty, immediately taking both to the ground. But no matter how many mud monsters we destroyed, they just kept slithering away and reforming.  
  
Jason and I continued forward, the battle raging around us. The column Torlus had pointed to was only about ten metres distant, and we were closing in with every step. Across from us, Sarah was fighting off a horde of opponents with her mace, furiously smashing putties aside with every blow and fighting to keep ahead of the tide. Beside her, Aaron was blasting away with his laser blasters, shooting anything that came near him and cutting a wide swath through the ranks, while a few metres away, Scott was spinning around on the spot, blocking then attacking with his staff and striking out whenever he could.  
  
With their backs to one of the stone columns, Billy and Kimberly were also battling their way through dozens of opponents. Spinning from side-to-side, the Blue Ranger was dropping putties with every swing of his lance, slashing high and blocking low. Wielding her bow, her right arm nothing more than a blur of pink and white, Kimberly was shooting at anything that moved, firing a rate of two or three arrows per second, adjusting her aim between shots and picking off dozens of adversaries one-by-one.  
  
A wave of putties separated me from Jason. I elbowed one out of the way, turned and suddenly found myself face-to-face with a tall golden-clad warrior.  
  
"You must be Goldar," I said.  
  
"And you're the Orange Ranger," he growled, raising his sword. The putties around us on all sides immediately took a step back. "It would please me no end to remove you from my mistress's troubles."  
  
"Nice to meet you too," I replied. With that, we both raced forward and swung our blades - they met with a clang that could be heard over the battle and bounced off each other. I paused for a second and Goldar took the advantage, swinging high before sending me backwards with a low kick. He lunged forward to continue the attack, but I recovered quickly and ducked under one slice before stepping around a second. He turned and swung again - I raised my own blade, blocked the path of his sword and batted it away.  
  
"Too bad pal," I said. Leaping to the attack, I dodged a low slash, caught his arm and slashed at his chest armour in a shower of sparks, before stepping forward and ramming my fist into his cheek. He grunted in annoyance and brushed away my fist, not remotely fazed by the blow, but just then a wall of putties flowed between us. Thankful for the interruption, I spun back around - the column was only about three metres away. Running forward, I dived to the ground as a putty lunged for me, rolled to my feet and found myself at the base of the column.  
  
"Jason!" I cried, hoping he could hear me above the roar of the battle, "I'm here!" Keeping my sword by my side, I scanned the dirt around the base of the column, running my fingers along the ground. A piece of the column seemed to shimmer for a second, and suddenly there was a gap in the stone where there wasn't a moment ago - I reached in, and my fingers brushed against something. It was the ribbon the medallion hung on, and grabbing it, I pulled the medallion out into the light. It sparkled in the sunlight as I held it up, golden, beautiful and about the size of my palm. The picture back in the Command Centre hadn't done it justice.  
  
"That's it!" cried a high-pitched voice. I spun to see Rita Repulsa racing towards me. Before I had time to defend myself, Rita raised her wand and landed a glancing blow to my shoulder - pain shot down my arm and I dropped the medallion. It bounced off a stone and ricocheted away - as I watched in horror, it skittered across the stone, getting closer to the edge of the cliff.  
  
A few steps behind me, lost in a sea of grey faces, Jason looked up to see the medallion bouncing towards the cliff edge, while I scrambled frantically after it. He struck away the closest putty and dropped another with a high kick, before turning and immediately beginning to carve a desperate path towards the edge of the cliff.  
  
Not knowing what else to do, I dived after the medallion - by now, it had shot off the ground and was hanging in the air. The ground disappeared beneath me as I grabbed at the ribbon, and I hung suspended for the briefest of seconds, reaching out desperately for the side of the cliff only a few short feet away. Then it was too late, and I was tumbling headfirst down into the void.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four  
**  
There was nothing but air beneath me, an empty void that fell forever...  
  
...when an iron fist suddenly wrapped around my ankle, yanking me out of my downward plunge and swinging me against the side of the cliff. It felt like I'd caught my foot in a vice - from the sheer force of the grip, I knew that gravity would give up its hold long before the owner of the fist did.  
  
I looked up and saw Jason hanging onto me, balanced halfway out over the drop with his sword stabbed into the cliff edge holding him in place.  
  
"I _told_ you," he said, grunting with the exertion, "I'd always have your back."  
  
"And thankfully my ankle."  
  
He smiled. "You got it?"  
  
I nodded, and held out the shining medallion. "Not letting go for the world."  
  
"Okay, I think I can swing you back up here. Just hang tight and... grab on!"  
  
Refusing to let go of either the medallion or my Power Sword, at the apex of the swing I scrambled up over the cliff edge, using my own blade to keep me steady. Once a good couple of feet were safely between me and the edge, I collapsed to the ground, while Jason crawled over and did the same, the pair of us unnoticed as the battle continued raging around us.  
  
"Thanks," I said, in the back of my mind hating that I was saying it yet again. "I thought Zordon said Rangers could shrug off falls like that."  
  
"He was talking falls of a couple of hundred feet, not a couple of thousand," Jason replied. "I mean, you _probably_ would've survived, but..."  
  
He broke off, suddenly noticing the crowd of putties steadily parting, and we leapt to our feet as Rita herself stormed through towards us. But as we spun to face the witch and I swapped the medallion to my left hand and the sword back to my right, our two blades briefly knocked against the medallion, and a tiny spark leapt from the medallion over to each.  
  
"You still want it Rita?" asked Jason, as we raised our swords. "Come and take it."  
  
Rita muttered something under her breath, and suddenly Gluk and the two remaining mud monsters were oozing by her side. "I don't care what it takes," she said, her voice low, "but get me that medallion."  
  
"Gladly," sneered Gluk, and the three monsters slithered towards us. I glanced past them and around the battleground, when I suddenly noticed that Torlus had stepped out from behind the column he'd taken shelter behind and was motioning to my sword over the roar of the battle.  
  
I glanced down. "Whoa. Hey Jason, check it out." Both our swords had begun glowing, the two blades shining with silver-white energy so bright we had to shield our eyes.  
  
"What does it mean?" I asked.  
  
Jason lightly ran a hand along the blade, grinned beneath his visor and turned to face the approaching monsters. "What it means," he said, "is that we just got an upgrade."  
  
The two secondary mud creatures broke away from Gluk and attacked, one aiming for Jason and the other lurching towards me. Jason ducked back as his opponent swiped at him, stepping around another blow and somersaulting over a third. Turning to follow him as he rolled to his feet, the monster lashed out again, but Jason spun around and slashed his blade through the air, the creature's arm vanishing in a shower of slime. The monster froze in shock, and Jason stepped forward - running his hand over the blade to charge it, he spun around and carved the sword clean through the monster's body, before an overarm diagonal slice reduced the creature to nothing more threatening than a puddle of mud at his feet.  
  
Beside him, the second monster had molded his arm like Gluk had done before, and was soon wielding a long sickle-like blade. Raising the blade, the creature slashed his arm towards me, but I quickly ducked backwards. Following after me, the monster slashed again and again, finding nothing but air with every slice. Spinning around, the creature lunged - I took to the air, leaping up and over him as he stumbled beneath me. Without slowing down, I landed and slammed my foot back into the monster's face - the creature staggered back two steps but ran out of ground after only one, and vanished over the edge of the cliff with a startled cry.  
  
With both our opponents defeated, Jason and I turned back to Gluk. Behind us, the battle had by now been decidedly won. There were only about a dozen putties left standing, and it took the Rangers a few seconds to take them down. Goldar and Scorpina remained fighting, but facing five opponents each, the two warriors were forced to retreat and take refuge behind Rita.  
  
Gluk could barely contain his fury. "Impressive," he growled, his eyes flashing, "but make no mistake, I will take that medallion."  
  
Jason turned to me. "Want to change his mind?"  
  
"Love to."  
  
The Red Ranger glanced down to his glowing Power Sword, an idea coming together in his mind. "Okay, follow my lead," he said, and he held the blade high above him.  
  
I nodded, and raised my own sword until the two blades crossed high above us - there was brief second when the swords shone like stars, and then a massive energy blast exploded from the two blades, smashing into Gluk and launching him backwards into the air. The mud monster flattened an entire trail of putties as he hurtled across the circle, and crashing into one of the stone columns, he was instantly reduced to a puddle of brown slime. Seconds later, the column itself toppled backwards, smashing into the ground with a deafening crash and shattering into thousands of smaller pieces.  
  
There was a moment of dead, empty silence. Standing at various points around the circle, all eleven Rangers slowly turned to face Rita, Goldar and Scorpina. The two golden warriors shrunk back behind their master, both trembling with fear, while it was impossible to miss that Rita was also shaking. But it wasn't from fear.  
  
The very picture of fury, Rita fixed her eyes on the golden medallion still in my grasp and began marching towards me. "I will have the power of the medallion," she said in a low voice. "And I'll crush you all with my bare hands if I have to..."  
  
"No," rang out a sudden, clear voice that echoed across the circle. The voice was ancient and powerful - I didn't just hear it, I felt it, and it was enough to stop Rita in her tracks. "You will leave this place while you can." We all turned to see Torlus striding across the stone platform from where he'd taken refuge during the battle. Following his path with her eyes, Rita froze, and her expression of ruthless determination vanished in an instant.  
  
Reaching my side, his gaze never leaving Rita, he held out his hand. "The medallion," he said, and I immediately handed it to him. Taking it from me, the wizard slipped the ribbon over his head and rested the medallion against his chest. There was an instant change about him - he looked bigger than he was five seconds ago, and as we watched, his eyes suddenly started shining, almost as if lit from within. Most of the Rangers were standing too far back to notice, but Rita certainly did - she took a frightened step backwards, her resolve shattering like glass.  
  
"Witch," he began calmly, speaking in measured tones. "Your creatures have been destroyed, your generals are cowering behind you, and your army has been defeated." He paused, and although he smiled, there was no humour to his voice. "If you wish to steal my medallion, this time without the benefit of your forces," he continued, "then by all means, try."  
  
The expression on Rita's face was priceless. Making no reply but shooting Torlus a look of pure venom, she stepped back, her wand glowing, and in a bright flash of light, Rita, Goldar and Scorpina teleported from the scene. Seconds later, the silent bodies littering the ground around us teleported away as well, and the twelve of us were left alone and triumphant on the Circle of Hianan.  
  
Exhausted from the battle, the other Rangers all jogged over to where Torlus, Jason and I stood.  
  
"Okay," said Scott, glancing from Jason's Power Sword to mine, "that was seriously cool."  
  
Jason smiled. "Thanks. Are you guys all okay?"  
  
Trini nodded. "I think we all made it through unscathed."  
  
Zac looked back around the now-deserted stone circle. "Damn," he said, his voice low. "Can anybody else not believe that we just did that?"  
  
"I know what you mean," nodded Kim. "We just wiped out like an entire army. Totally cool."  
  
"Good job everybody," said Tommy, with a glance over to Teresa and a barely perceptible nod. "You guys fought really well."  
  
"Thank you all," came a voice, and we all turned to Torlus as he surveyed the group with eyes that were kind, wise and no longer glowing, "for your rescue. I am in debt for my medallion, and I think I owe you my life, as well."  
  
Sarah stepped forward. "Any time. But how about we get out of here and back to Zordon," she said, "before any more badguys turn up?"  
  
The mage nodded. "After this past day, I like this idea very much."  
  
And as we all prepared to teleport, Aaron glanced from the medallion hanging safely around Torlus's neck to Scott, muttering under his breath, "Yeah, it's yours when we get home..."

* * *

"Torlus!" beamed Zordon, once the twelve of us had left the Circle of Hianan and materialised back in the Command Centre. It was impossible not to notice the sage's delight upon our arrival. "It's wonderful to see you again, safe and well. I was worried..."  
  
Torlus nodded, smiling. "It is good to see you again, my old friend. It's been far too long."  
  
"Centuries," replied Zordon with the tiniest hint of a smile, before turning to the rest of us. "And Rangers, congratulations. And thank you. For not only rescuing Torlus and keeping the medallion safe, but defeating Rita's entire army in the process. An impressive feat indeed."  
  
"We did try a stealth attack first," said Tommy, "but when that didn't work, we automatically subbed to plan B."  
  
"You should have seen them," said Torlus, "trying to steal me away from Rita right under her nose. It would've brought back some very fond memories."  
  
Zordon didn't even try to hide a delighted smiled. "A good day of fighting, and a job well done nonetheless. I'm proud of you all."  
  
"Can I just ask though," began Scott, looking from Zordon to Torlus, "what happened to Jason's and Peter's swords?"  
  
"Yeah," said Kim. "Like where did the major fireworks come from? We've been in a lot of fights, but that's never happened before."  
  
"The medallion grants power by touch," said Torlus. "I assume that when you saved it, your weapons somehow came into contact with the medallion, and it granted the blades a measure of its power."  
  
I remembered back to standing by the cliff face and hearing a light clink as the two blades bounced off the medallion, and nodded. "I'd say that's about right."  
  
"Then forgive me for asking a silly question," Sarah began, glancing to the golden medallion, "but if the medallion is sensitive to touch, how can you hold it now without anything happening? Shouldn't we be seeing a constant light show?"  
  
The corners of the wizard's mouth crinkled into a smile, and for a brief moment he looked uncommonly like Santa Claus. "Not silly at all. But you answered your own question - the medallion is sensitive." With that, he reached across and flipped the medallion around so we were facing the eye design. As one, everyone gasped - _the medallion had blinked!_ The golden eye quickly scanned the room, settling on Jason and I for a few seconds, before looking back up at Torlus. "One of the first lessons I ever learned," he said softly, "is that power is never entrusted to anybody incapable of looking after it."  
  
"Indeed," said Zordon, "it's entirely possible that it was the medallion's way of thanking you for saving it."  
  
Chewing my bottom lip thoughtfully, I turned to Jason beside me, as everybody continued to stare at the medallion.  
  
"But how did you know?" I asked. "How did you know that raising our swords like that would, you know, work?"  
  
Jason glanced to the other Rangers and lowered his voice. "I've seen enough cartoons and read more than enough comics," he said, then shrugged. "How else do you use a pair of powerful swords?"  
  
I shook my head, grinned and laughed, while beside me, Jason paused for a second and then did the same.  
  
"Wow," said Aaron, glancing from the medallion to Sarah standing beside him. "I guess this beats the small things, huh?"  
  
"You're right there," Sarah replied. "You know, I can't help but think of the night sky and wonder just how many more of those millions of stars have planets and civilisations and entire histories?"  
  
Aaron shrugged. "Beats me," he said, and then grinned. "But it's gonna be _damn_ fun finding out."

* * *

Eventually we left the Command Centre, leaving Torlus in Zordon's care, the two happily recalling past battles. To the eleven of us, Torlus remained still very much a mystery, but despite this, we all felt better for having met him. Surprisingly, the entire adventure had taken less than a few hours, and we arrived back in Caloundra just after lunch. Most of the clouds had moved inland and the sky had cleared up, and it looked like it was actually going to be a nice afternoon. I was all set to follow everyone else down to the beach to make the most of the weather, but Jason asked me to hang back.  
  
"So," I said, following Jason down from our table into the training area of the Youth Centre, "Torlus is in the Command Centre now with Zordon..."  
  
"And he'll probably be on Earth for a few more days before leaving," Jason replied.  
  
"I wish we'd had more of a chance to speak to him. Did we ever find out what made him return to Nerimos?" I asked.  
  
Jason shook his head. "No, I didn't ask him. But I got the feeling even he didn't know."  
  
"Do you think we'll ever see him again?" I asked.  
  
"Who, Torlus?"  
  
"Yeah," I replied. "I mean, you heard him and Zordon talking, about all the things he's seen and done, and all the places they've been. There's just so many questions I would've liked to have asked him."  
  
Jason nodded. "Given this is only the beginning of a long career in superheroics, yeah, we'll see him again, Pete, don't worry. Speaking of which..." He paused, reaching down into his bag, taking out two crudely- made wooden swords and handing one to me. "Here, take this."  
  
"Practice?" I asked.  
  
"Practice," Jason replied. "If you're gonna be using your sword more often, we need to turn you into an expert swordsman." He paused, and grinned. "Besides, I can't show up and save your butt all the time, now can I?"  
  
I laughed, and looked away. "Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Anything."  
  
"I was thinking about the medallion before, and what Zordon said about the kind of power it grants," I said. "If you had the choice, what you take that kind of power? I mean, with everything we're capable of as Rangers, would you want more?"  
  
Jason nodded, and looked to me levelly. "Pop quiz," he said, motioning to my wooden sword. "Why are we doing this?"  
  
I glanced down to the sword, and remembered the conversation we'd had back on Nerimos. "Because I can't rely on the power to fight my battles for me. I need to know the skills myself."  
  
He smiled, and lowered his voice. "Exactly," Jason said. "I'm not sure the others get it, heaven knows Rita doesn't, and I'm pretty sure Zordon _does_ but he'd rather we figured it out for ourselves. But you know something? Power is vastly overrated."  
  
"It is?"  
  
"Sure it is. Okay, so it can help you do some pretty incredible things, but it's what's in here," and Jason lightly tapped my chest, "the _real_ you, that counts. That's the part of you that actually matters. Power doesn't make you a better person, it just makes you bigger. And heck, you've piloted a Megazord - that's not always the best idea." He paused, letting what he was saying sink in. "You still with me, or have I vanished into left field?"  
  
I nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, you know, I'd never thought about it like that before, but you're right," I said. "So yeah, I get you."  
  
"Awesome," Jason replied. "I thought you might. Now c'mon, let's get back to practice..."  
  
**The End. **


End file.
